


Bottles

by Velma68



Series: Bibliophilia [4]
Category: Sherlock (TV), Sherlock Holmes & Related Fandoms
Genre: 221B Ficlet, Bibliophilia, Gen, Illustrated, Postcards
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-17
Updated: 2014-03-17
Packaged: 2018-01-16 03:35:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1330447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Velma68/pseuds/Velma68
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mrs. Hudson receives an unexpected gift. A 221B-epilogue to <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/works/837440/chapters/1595397">The Gladstone Ritual</a>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bottles

The first parcel arrived at 221 Baker Street on Tuesday afternoon, when Martha Hudson was glued to _Countdown_. At the commercial break, she ripped open the box with her sewing scissors. Nestled in paper were two glass bottles, each marked with a crucifix and filled with—water? She unfolded the note.

_Mrs. Hudson, keep the bottles out of direct sunlight. Do not refrigerate. SH_

Oh, Sherlock. She cried when she saw him, alive as any morning, the day he came home. How she hoped he and John could patch it up. The poor dears. Both equally pigheaded—and John cross as two sticks. Mrs. Hudson sighed. She arranged the bottles on her knick-knack shelf and settled in for the _Countdown_ conundrum.

The next morning brought two more packages stuffed with delicate flasks. Sacred hearts, Celtic crosses, eternal fonts—they joined the line growing on the sitting room shelf. That afternoon, she had a postcard from John.

_Greetings from Holywell! We solved the library case—you’ll see it on the telly. Here at Winifred’s well, Sherlock was banned from the bathing pool for misusing consecrated vessels. He was collecting water samples. Smuggled out a few. The caretaker forgave us when Sherlock verified the downhill path of the saint’s decapitated head. John_

Her boys. Mrs. Hudson beamed at the row of blessed bottles.


End file.
